Although numerous treatments are available for cancer, many forms of cancer remain incurable, untreatable or become resistant to standard therapies and effective treatments for many cancers have undesirable side effects. Ocular cancers, such as ocular melanoma and retinoblastoma, are particularly challenging to treat. A patient diagnosed with ocular melanoma, depending on the size of the tumor, has few treatment options, including: (1) surgical procedures such as resection, enucleation or exenteration, all of which are highly invasive and mainly involve the removal of the eye and part of the optic nerve (after surgery the patient is usually fitted for an artificial eye); and (2) plaque brachytherapy, a type of radiation therapy, where a thin piece of metal (e.g., gold) with radioactive seeds covering one side is sewn onto the outside wall of the eye with the seeds aimed at the tumor. The thin piece of metal is removed at the end of treatment, which usually lasts for several days. Severe radioactive related complications include: cataract formation, which is the most common, followed by vitreous hemorrhage. Other complications include dry eye, keratitis, radiation-induced iris neovascularization, neovascular glaucoma, radiation-induced retinopathy, radiation-induced optic neuropathy, episcleral deposits, scleral necrosis and/or extraocular muscle alterations. Radiation retinopathy has been reported to occur in 10-63% of patients treated with plaque brachytherapy, and the mean time from treatment to the development of maculopathy is approximately 25.6 months.